Saige Pilgrim: Integrating a Mix of Traditional and Digital Marketing into Your Campaign
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The importance of digital marketing has changed a lot over the last few years. Previously, marketing relied a lot on traditional methods. This included things like print, tv, and radio ads. However, it’s clear there is a move from traditional marketing to digital marketing. Since more people now use the web daily, there’s no doubt it’s an effective platform to use. But should traditional marketing be avoided altogether? Some believe that it’s beneficial to use a mix of the two to make your marketing campaign successful.

Speaking to Saige Pilgrim, she had a lot to say about digital marketing versus traditional marketing. Although she’s noticed a growing trend in digital marketing channels, the traditional methods should not be neglected. There’s still going to be an older audience that companies will want to reach who rely on having a physical form of communication.

In today’s Rediscover Marketing article, we’ll look at both traditional and digital marketing. You’ll be able to see the benefits of both and how integrating the two could change your marketing campaign for the better. Alongside this, we’ll evaluate the importance of themes when putting together a marketing strategy.

Who is Saige Pilgrim?

Saige Pilgrim handles the marketing side of her family-owned business as the Director of Digital Marketing at Pilgrim Construction Company. She’s also currently going to school and finishing off a higher degree in public relations. Previously, she was only involved in the business in a certificate management role, but last year she stepped up and from there transitioned into taking on challenges they had as a business.

Pilgrim Construction Company had never really pursued marketing before Saige stepped into her role because the energy construction industry mainly relies on word of mouth and being known for your reputation. However, as the industry has grown, there are a lot more people coming into the industry and seeking jobs. These younger people are accustomed to getting information from digital sources. Saige said they were missing out on an opportunity for getting through to people who didn’t know who they were already. Therefore, she described their proudest achievement for 2020 as launching their marketing campaign.

Traditional vs. Digital Marketing

Since Saige works in such a unique market, we asked her about her take on traditional and digital marketing. Although the benefits of digital marketing are focused on a lot more in today’s world, Saige believes it’s vital to have a mix.

Within the industry that Saige works in, she said that they’re having an influx of younger people in the industry as well as an established older demographic, so you need to be able to reach both of them. She suggested that you should still reach out to those who still read magazines and newsletters. A lot of the more established demographic prefer traditional marketing channels and a physical form of ad copy.

Saige’s other helpful advice was that you have to be very targeted when you choose to engage in traditional marketing strategies. Pilgrim Construction Company particularly looks at local pipelining organizations and conferences, as well as shifts in the environment to get a better understanding of their target market.

Traditional marketing is a lot higher than the digital marketing cost, so you need to know if you have an audience that will respond to it. Saige stated that the established demographic likes to see you in print, so ensure you’re only spending for this targeted audience. At the same time, Saige and her company also have younger people coming into the industry, and they use forms of digital marketing solutions to engage with them.

For some extra clarification, below are some examples of both digital and traditional marketing.

Digital Marketing Examples:

• Search Engine Marketing

This type of marketing uses search engines to promote a business. You can do it through two different types of search engine marketing; search engine optimization (SEO) or pay per click (PPC). SEO is where you optimize your website or social media page to increase where they stand in the search engine results. PPC involves buying ads to make your company’s link more visible in search engines. Both are useful, but SEO creates more organic leads for free than PPC, where you will only be displayed due to how much you pay.

• Display Ads

There’s no doubt you’ve seen loads of display ads while you’ve been surfing the web. They often come in the form of banner ads where they appear at the top or down the side of a webpage. When you click on them, they’ll take you to your companies website. However, many customers have been conditioned to ignore these ads. There’s the chance that one or two customers may engage with them, but these shouldn’t be used as your only digital marketing tool.

• Email Marketing

Almost everyone has an email address. It’s how you stay in touch with people and find out important information. Due to this, most people check their emails daily, so adding emails to your campaign can help get the attention of current and potential customers. This digital marketing tool is mainly used to deliver content and promotional offers to your customers. Ensure your emails have a good design and optimization and use digital marketing analytics to see how your audience consumes your emails — for example, finding the best times and days to send emails.

• Inbound Marketing

Adding inbound marketing into your digital marketing plan can be highly beneficial for gaining new customers. It involves the creation of content that will help engage your audience and keep them coming back for more. You’ll also be using strategies for turning prospective customers into actual customers. The content you create will be shared on multiple platforms and can come in the form of blogs, podcasts, ebooks, newsletters, and videos.

• Social Media Marketing

Social media is ever-growing in the modern world, and this is why it’s one of the best digital marketing tools. This strategy involves using the power of social media to promote a product or service that your business provides. You can either pay for ads, like on Facebook or share content on your own pages for free. Bare in mind that it requires careful planning and execution, and you may have to spend a bit to get a better reach. However, it’s been proven that potential customers are more likely to become actual customers if they follow your business on Twitter or Facebook.

• Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing uses referrals to gain more recognition and engagement around your business. You’ll team up with other companies to help promote your products and services. They may display an ad on their website or promote you on their social media pages. For every visitor or customer your affiliate brings to your business, they’ll be rewarded. Therefore, you’ll need to set aside a budget for the number of customers you’re hoping to gain from using affiliate marketing.

Traditional Marketing Examples:

• Direct Mail

Instead of emails, traditional marketing involves direct mail, where you create awareness of your product or service through postcards, letters, flyers, and brochures. Often, this type of marketing is expensive, so you’ll need to use it for a targeted group of specific people. You’ll have to weigh the benefits against the costs and have a look at whether your target audience would respond to this type of marketing.

• Tradeshows

Tradeshows are often utilized when a company has a new product coming out and wants to generate some buzz and excitement around it. It’s still a very popular marketing channel for a lot of businesses. Tradeshows are often used in the B2B space, and it’s been found that attendees are 34% more likely to make a purchase than people who hear about your product through other channels.

• Print Marketing

Using print marketing will help create awareness of your business and what they offer. Print marketing can be portrayed through ads in newspapers, magazines, the Yellow Pages, or billboards. You can use this type of traditional marketing to be targeted or much more broad. This type of marketing can be expensive, but many people can drive past a billboard every day or read a magazine each week. Therefore, the benefits may outweigh the costs.

• Broadcast Marketing

You can’t often watch TV or listen to the radio without seeing or hearing ads. This is broadcast marketing, and although not as many businesses use it as frequently due to the cost, it can be successful. You’ll often see large corporations such as Coca-Cola or Apple utilize broadcast marketing, especially during large events such as the Superbowl. It’s a quick way to get the attention of a large audience at once. However, it may not be a practical marketing tool for smaller businesses with a smaller budget.

Focusing on Themes in Your Market

Alongside the discussion on traditional marketing vs digital marketing, Saige offered some extra advice on what growth leaders should pay attention to in the coming year. The main thing that she recommended should be focused on is paying attention to the buzz in your market.

You’re going to want to listen to what people in your industry are saying and find the common themes. You’ll want to change your tactics and content to put together an effective marketing strategy for your target audiences from these themes.

Saige stated that many people have had to rewrite their narratives and tactics due to the pandemic. For her, the pandemic provided insight that the energy future is more important now more than ever. She elaborated that she found consumers aren’t just content with having warm houses or having gas; they also want to know that they aren’t disadvantaging others by having those things. This allowed her to expand her marketing campaign based on these themes she found.

Data Review

At the moment, Saige is the entire marketing team for her business. However, she works with a business development team that gives her insights that helps with her data review. She found that her industry has two very distinct publics, which involve current and new potential customers. The business development team will bring herthe news that will help her build her print strategy based on who’s active and what their needs are at the time.

Alongside looking at data from her two publics, she takes workforce engagement seriously too. In her words, no one is going to want to work for a company or industry that has a bad reputation, so you need to tailor marketing to them too. Saige engages with the workforce and community through social media and keeps track of that through analytics.

Ending the interview, Saige told us that you need to make sure you’re reaching the right people on suitable topics. You can do this by looking at digital marketing trends as well as using features of traditional marketing. She also advised that you try and mitigate any risk factors your company has by providing a safe wall of community outreach. You may not be able to do everything you want to do, but you can stay consistent.